Next Friday (12 June), the EU’s Dublin system will come to an end as the new Pact on Migration and Asylum officially enters into force.
For years, the Dublin system has been a familiar villain in the debate on Europe’s asylum policy.
Designed to determine which EU country is responsible for examining an asylum application, it has been widely denounced as fundamentally unfair.
Critics have pointed to its core principle — that responsibility lies primarily with the first country of entry — as evidence that it systematically disadvantages southern European states.
Yet, northern countries have also expressed frustration, as asylum seekers often move onward after arriving in southern Europe.
